Warren Berger
"Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods."
Neil Postman
"The word 'why' not only taught me to ask, but also to think. And thinking has never hurt anyone. On the contrary, it does us all a world of good."
Anne Frank
Terry and I receive the Marshall Memo on a weekly basis but I personally don't make it a priority to read it every week. I should because Kim Marshall has already done the work for me by summarizing the major articles in education that week. Stuck at Jungle Java on Saturday night, I pulled up the articles on my phone. I became slightly obsessed with one of the articles on helping students become better questioners.
Marshall summarized an article by Warren Berger entitled 5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners. Berger believes we need to make questioning safe, cool, fun, rewarding, and a habit. It wasn't so much the article I loved but several websites that were included as resources. I would highly recommend checking out the websites A More Beautiful Question and Right Question Institute.
We've been hammering home the idea of understanding our "why." Perhaps, that's why I love the Anne Frank quote. As much as I like a good answer, sometimes asking the right questions provides us with a much clearer picture of our direction in life and helps us understand our personal mission or "why." I was the student who always had the right answer and it wasn't until I got older that I understood the power of mindset. I often worry that my oldest, Carys, is too fixed mindset. I mentioned to her this idea of always knowing the right answer and she replied, "I know, Mom, it's about asking the right questions." Smart kid. :)
So how do we create a culture of inquiry in our classroom and our school? How do we encourage students to spend more time on a question? How do we create a path for students to get from a question to a more meaningful result? Between the ages of 2 and 5, children ask 40,000 questions but after that we kill it out of them. Take the 3 minutes to watch the following video, What Kills Questioning? and then let us know what questions you have.
Big Rocks
A big thanks to Julie Juenemann for sending out the email about the Universal Precaution videos. Please watch them and turn in your form by October 1. We do have students with severe health issues this year that could require the use of Epi-Pens and Diastat.
As you work out your personal classroom schedules, please turn in a copy to Terry and/or Sarah. We realize they may still be in the works but they are helpful for us when scheduling observations and walk-throughs.
Camp is just around the corner! We are not sure what numbers to expect yet due to the change in camp dates. If you have any students who are not going due to financial restrictions, please see Terry, Sarah, and/or Julie. Camp money is due September 26 but we have already fielded some calls from parents who do not get paid until the 1st of the month. If you have a parent who is in this situation, please touch base with us in the office. We want every child to have the opportunity to attend camp.
The Book Room is unpacked and ready for use thanks to the hard work of Robin, Kathy, Christine, and Shelly. Please use the sign out sheet as they continue to update the spreadsheet and to ensure accurate inventory. At this time, please do not re-shelve books. You may return them to bin on the rectangular table.
The Young Adult Book Club will be meeting this Friday at 8 am in the lounge to discuss Loki's Wolves. I hope everyone had the chance to read it. I think our Rick Riordan fans will really enjoy this new series. I found the book slow to start but then couldn't put it down. In my opinion, the second book, Odin's Ravens, is even better.
Calendar for the Week of September 15, 2014
Monday:
Tuesday: 8:00 Tech Meeting in LMC
8:45-9:45 LEAD time
10:15 Tornado Drill
1:15 Inservice on the PA (Sarah, Terry, Pam, Colleen, Jeff)
3:45 Lighthouse Meeting
Wednesday: 8:30 Terry LEADS meeting at Emerson
3:45 Planning Team
Thursday: 3:45-4:45 Extended Staff Meeting on Student Led Conferences
6:30 PTA Meeting
Friday: 8:00 Young Adult Book Club Loki's Wolves
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